The Philadelphia Orchestra

Renowned for his interpretations of Ravel's music, Jean-Yves Thibaudet joins The Philadelphia Orchestra for the composer’s jazzy Piano Concerto in G Major. The evening also features Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps, which infamously caused riots in 1913 for its explosive, driving rhythms; today, it is one of Stravinsky’s most celebrated and frequently performed works, its influence heard in everything from modern classical works to film soundtracks.

The contemporary work on this program is part of My Time, My Music.

Performers

The Philadelphia OrchestraYannick Nézet-Séguin, Music Director

Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Piano

Program

GABRIELA LENA FRANK Concertino Cusqueño (NY Premiere)

RAVEL Piano Concerto in G Major

STRAVINSKY Le sacre du printemps

Encore:

STRAVINSKY "Pastorale"

Bios

The Philadelphia Orchestra

Renowned for its distinctive sound, beloved for its keen ability to capture the hearts and
imaginations of audiences, and admired for an unrivaled legacy of "firsts" in music making,
The Philadelphia Orchestra is one of the preeminent orchestras in the world.

The Philadelphia Orchestra has cultivated an extraordinary history of artistic leaders in
its 112 seasons, including music directors Fritz Scheel, Carl Pohlig, Leopold Stokowski,
Eugene Ormandy, Riccardo Muti, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Christoph Eschenbach, and Charles
Dutoit (who served as chief conductor from 2008 to 2012). With the 2012-2013 season,
Yannick Nézet-Séguin becomes the eighth music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra. Named
music director designate in 2010, Mr. Nézet-Séguin brings a vision that extends beyond
symphonic music into the vivid world of opera and choral music.

Philadelphia is home, and the orchestra nurtures an important relationship not only with
patrons who support the main season at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, but also
those who enjoy the orchestra's other area performances at the Mann Center, Penn's Landing,
and other venues. The Philadelphia Orchestra Association also continues to own the Academy
of Music-a National Historic Landmark-as it has since 1957.

Through concerts, tours, residencies, presentations, and recordings, the orchestra is a
global ambassador for Philadelphia and for the United States. Having been the first
American orchestra to perform in China, in 1973 at the request of President Nixon, today
The Philadelphia Orchestra boasts a new partnership with the National Centre for the
Performing Arts in Beijing. The orchestra annually performs at Carnegie Hall and the
Kennedy Center, while also enjoying a three-week residency in Saratoga Springs, NY, and a
strong partnership with the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival.

The ensemble maintains an important Philadelphia tradition of presenting educational
programs for students of all ages. Today, the orchestra executes myriad education and
community partnership programs that serve more than 45,000 annually, including its
Neighborhood Concert Series, Sound All Around and Family Concerts, and eZseatU. Visit
philorch.org for more information.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Yannick Nézet-Séguin became the eighth music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra with
the start of the 2012-2013 season. Named music director designate in June 2010, he made his
orchestra debut in December 2008. Over the past decade, Yannick has established himself as
a musical leader of the highest caliber and one of the most exciting talents of his
generation. Since 2008, he has been music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic and
principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic, and since 2000 artistic director and
principal conductor of Montreal's Orchestre Métropolitain. He has appeared with such
revered ensembles as the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Boston
Symphony Orchestra, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Dresden Staatskapelle, Chamber
Orchestra of Europe, and major Canadian orchestras. His talents extend beyond symphonic
music into opera and choral music, leading acclaimed performances at the Metropolitan
Opera, La Scala, Salzburg Festival, and Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Highlights of Yannick's inaugural season include his Carnegie Hall debut with the Verdi
Requiem, one world premiere, and performances of The Rite of Spring in
collaboration with New York-based Ridge Theater, complete with dancers, video projection,
and theatrical lighting. In July 2012, Yannick and Deutsche Grammophon announced a major
long-term collaboration. His discography with the Rotterdam Philharmonic for BIS Records
and EMI/Virgin includes an Edison Award-winning album of Ravel's orchestral works. He has
also recorded several award-winning albums with the Orchestre Métropolitain for ATMA
Classique. In addition, his first recording with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Mahler's
Symphony No. 5, is available for download.

A native of Montreal, Yannick studied at that city's Conservatory of Music and continued
studies with renowned conductor Carlo Maria Giulini and with Joseph Flummerfelt at
Westminster Choir College. In 2012, Yannick was appointed a Companion of the Order of
Canada, one of the country's highest civilian honors. His other honors include Canada's
National Arts Centre Award; a Royal Philharmonic Society Award; the Prix Denise-Pelletier,
the highest distinction for the arts in Quebec; and an honorary doctorate by the University
of Quebec in Montreal. Visit philorch.org/conductor to read Yannick's full bio.

Jean-Yves Thibaudet

Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet has performed around the world for more than 30 years and
recorded more than 50 albums. His long history with The Philadelphia Orchestra began in
1990, when he made his debut at the Mann Center under the baton of Charles Dutoit; he has
appeared with the Philadelphians as a guest soloist almost every year since.

Mr. Thibaudet began the 2012-2013 season playing Gershwin with the New Jersey Symphony
Orchestra and opening the season for the São Paulo State Symphony. Other international
highlights this season include a tour of Europe with the Kammerorchester Basel; a Bernstein
tour in Spain with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin; engagements with the Oslo and
Helsinki philharmonics, and at the Lucerne Festival; and a three-week residency in his
native Lyon, France. Appearances in the US include an all-Debussy program at Lincoln
Center, Saint-Saëns's Piano Concerto No. 5 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and
performances with the New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, and Colorado and
Seattle symphony orchestras. Mr. Thibaudet will finish the season playing Saint-Saëns and
MacMillan with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; Nashville Symphony; and Chicago, Atlanta, and
Indianapolis symphony orchestras.

Mr. Thibaudet's recordings with Decca have won numerous awards. His latest CD,
Gershwin, features big jazz band orchestrations of Rhapsody in Blue, the
"I Got Rhythm" Variations, and the Concerto in F live with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
and Marin Alsop. On his Grammy-nominated recording of Saint-Saëns's piano
concertos nos. 2 and 5, released in 2007, he is joined by Mr. Dutoit, a longstanding
collaborator, and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Mr. Thibaudet was the soloist on the
Oscar-winning soundtrack for the film Atonement in 2007 and the Oscar-nominated
Pride and Prejudice in 2005. He was also featured in the 2000 PBS/Smithsonian
special Piano Grand!, a performance program hosted by Billy Joel to pay tribute to
the 300th anniversary of the piano.

Known for his style on and off the stage, Mr. Thibaudet has also made a mark in fashion.
His concert wardrobe is by celebrated London designer Vivienne Westwood.

Audio

At a Glance

This evening's program revisits three premieres—either world or
US—presented by The Philadelphia Orchestra. The orchestra
commissioned, and last October premiered, Gabriela Lena Frank's
Concertino Cusqueño to honor Yannick Nézet-Séguin as
the eighth music director of the ensemble. In this composition,
Frank, the California-born daughter of a Peruvian immigrant,
imaginatively blends her South American heritage with a love for
the music of the 20th-century English composer Benjamin Britten.
The principal theme of the one-movement work is spun from a
religious melody ("Ccollanan María") and a simple motif that opens
Britten's Violin Concerto.

Maurice Ravel began composing his Piano Concerto in G Major while
on a North American tour in 1928, and readily acknowledged the
"thrilling and inspiring" influence of jazz that he heard while in
the US. Leopold Stokowski, whose appointment 100 years ago as The
Philadelphia Orchestra's third music director is celebrated this
season, conducted the US premiere of the concerto in April
1932—four months after its unveiling in Paris.

This coming May 29 marks the centennial of the scandalous premiere
in Paris of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, a landmark
event in the history of Western music. Historians now generally
agree that it was the choreography much more than the music that
caused the sensation that night, and indeed, within a year The
Rite of Spring was a successful concert piece. It took
nearly a decade, until 1922, for the work to make it across the
Atlantic. Stokowski conducted the US premiere in Philadelphia in
March 1922.